LANSING, Mich. (WILX) - As the new school year approaches, new data shows fewer kids are getting vaccinated. Local health officials said the decline has been pretty consistent since the COVID-19 pandemic.

“My hope is that our numbers for childhood vaccinations go up this fall, relative to what we’ve seen over the last couple of years, ”said Dr. Nike Shoyinka, Chief Medical Health Officer at Ingham County Health Department.

The data shows kindergarten vaccination rates are declining across the nation. In Michigan, the rate last year was 91.6% and at the same time, the share of children with vaccine exemptions is on the rise.

“When we look at our state data we have shown a real decline in childhood vaccinations for basically everything since the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic,” said

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